Partner Profile | written by: PAMELA DEY VOSSLER | photo by: BAMBI RIEGEL | riegelpictureworks.com
Ten Twenty Post staff members with (from left) Runner Ricardo Garcia, Cook Camilo Navarro, Managing Partner David Nelson, Chef Erik Llupton and Cook Thelma Rodriguez
In the midst of the tremendous growth in town and the cascade of exciting new businesses arriving with it, there are those places – retailers, dry cleaners, restaurants and more – that anchor us to who we are and what we seek as we make our rounds through each day. They are places that sell us what we want and give us what we need, grounding us, settling us …places that hold the shape of our town as it grows while evolving and changing to stay current themselves. They just feel good, lifting the small moments, enlarging the big ones. They’re personal, authentic and we’re happier for crossing their threshold. Ten Twenty Post, now celebrating its 15th year in business, is one of those places. Managing Partner David Nelson and his staff make sure of it.
That the food is good is a given. To have an oyster at Ten Twenty Post is to transport yourself to where it originated. The tuna tartare, the crab cakes, the filet, the fish tacos, the salmon BLT, the specials and more – all sourced and made with best quality ingredients, recipes and attention to detail. Also a given? The décor itself. With its recent makeover and pergola addition, Ten Twenty Post stepped into a newness that has kept it fresh while retaining its roots. What takes it to that next level—a place we return to, a place we can count on to elevate the time we choose to spend there, a place that gives us the pride of now-you’re-in-on-it-too when we share it with people who’ve not been there before, a place we think of as our own—are all the things you cannot see.
It’s the waiter serving you just the way you want, the magnanimity of the guy seating you, the easy openness of the bartender, the graciousness of even the cleaning staff scouring the restaurant on an early morning if you happen by.
“All the opportunities for service are very important and they exist irrespective of what happens at the table,” said David who trains his staff to understand that chances to serve present themselves from the moment someone walks through the door, and even when they’re walking by outside.
You feel known, valued.
The staff treat you that way because that’s the way they are treated. To David, it’s non-negotiable.
“When I think about how to treat people and why I have the staff retention I do, I’m proud of it. I can stand by that,” said David. “I pay (my staff) well above the industry standard and I treat people well on a very meaningful to me personal level. I treat them with respect and dignity. It’s very important,” he continued.
And if something goes wrong – which inevitably it does, in any restaurant, even if it’s one meal in a thousand, Ten Twenty will make it right, no fight, even if the fault lies elsewhere.
“When I get a complaint, I thank the person for it because they’re helping me improve,” said David with his signature candor. Typically, he comps the meal when there is a problem. “It’s a chance to make it into something good,” he added.
Requests for support from local nonprofits are another chance to get it right, according to David—to create the je ne sais quoi that keeps people coming back.
“When the community asks for help, we give generously, without a doubt,” said David. “I’ve probably given out thousands of gift certificates over the course of two years,” he added.
David Nelson does the right thing, in every way, with every fiber of his being—with integrity, warmth, a heart and good humor and, like any good host, a proactive sense for what people want. And he works hard every day to make what is already great even better, including an event business that has grown to include weddings, christenings,
corporate outings and more.
No wonder Ten Twenty Post is such a staple in town, a consistent, delicious home base in a growing restaurant scene. We may try other places, but we’ll always come back here, to this place we’re happy to call our own.
